This recipe puts an Indian twist on the quintessentially British fish and chips. It uses authentic Indian spices to create spicy, crispy battered cod, served with garlic, chilli and lime cassava "chips" and a hot, tangy tartare sauce.
If you know me, you know I love a fusion recipe and this Masala Fish and "Chips" is definitely up there with one of my favourites. It's naturally gluten-free, as the cod batter uses gram flour as opposed to regular flour and the cassava (a.k.a. mogo) is just boiled, brushed with a little oil and then air fried to make it super crispy. If you haven't tried cassava before, it's a root vegetable that tastes pretty similar to a potato but is a little more dense. If you want to purchase it, you should be able to find it in the frozen section of your local Indian supermarket. All of this is served with a light and tangy homemade tartare sauce (with a twist, obviously) but you can also serve with green chutney!
Air frying the cassava
The key to getting the cassava nice and crispy without deep frying it is to air fry it.
Simply defrost (if using frozen), chop into your desired chip size, bring to a boil and allow to cook over a medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and leave to dry for about 15 minutes. Transfer to the air fryer and cook in batches for about 8 minutes at 200 degrees C, or until crispy.
Don't have an air fryer? Bake it! Follow the same steps as above but instead of placing it in an air fryer, place onto a lightly greased baking tray and cook for about 30 minutes at 215 degrees C, or until crispy, making sure to turn them over half way through.
Once you've got them nice and crispy using your preferred method, transfer to a wok and fry with salt, pepper, garlic, chilli powder and lime (this step is completely optional).
Preparing the cod
To prepare the cod, pat it dry and allow it to come to room temperature (about 15 minutes). Sprinkle with a small amount of salt and pepper, and then lightly dust in cornflour.
Making the cod batter
Making the batter is pretty straight forward and only requires a few ingredients (gram flour, cornflour salt, chilli powder, turmeric, ground carom, garlic, oil, lime and sparkling water). The use of sparkling water is essential, as it helps steam the cod so that it stays moist on the inside. For best results, use chilled sparkling water.
Cooking the cod
You can either air fry or shallow fry the cod. I tested out both methods and surprisingly, the air-fried version turned out pretty good, though I did lose some of the batter to the bottom of the basket.
To air fry, brush the bottom of the basket with a small amount of oil. Coat the cod in the batter and transfer to the air fryer. Cook for 7 minutes at 200 degrees C, or until cooked through and crispy.
To shallow fry, add enough oil to cover the base of a heavy-based pan (I used a cast iron pan). Dip the cod in the batter and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and golden.
Masala Fish and "Chips" with a Spicy Tartare Sauce (GF, DF)
Serves: 4
Prep time: 35 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
For the cassava chips
2 lbs frozen cassava, defrosted
1 tbsp oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp chilli powder
Salt
Pepper
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
For the masala fish
4 fillets wild-caught cod
4 tsp cornflour
4 heaped tbsp gram flour
Salt
Pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp ground carom
2 tsp oil
Juice of half a lime
3/4 cup sparkling water
For the tartare sauce
4 tbsp mayonnaise
3 sprigs dill, finely chopped
2 sprigs coriander, finely chopped
1 large gherkin, finely chopped
1/4 tsp coriander cumin powder (optional)
1 green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
Squeeze of lemon
METHOD
For the cassava chips
1. Chop cassava into your desired chip size and add to a large pan filled with boiling water. Bring to a boil and allow to cook over a medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and leave to dry for about 15 minutes. Once dry, cut into your desired chip size, brush with a little oil and transfer to the air fryer in batches, cooking each batch for around 8 minutes at 200 degrees C, or until crispy.
2. Heat oil in a large wok. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds over a medium-high heat, followed by the cassava, salt, pepper, chilli powder and lime juice. Stir until cassava is well coated and golden (about 3 minutes) and then remove from the heat. Set aide.
For the masala fish
1. Add 2 tsp of cornflour to a large plate or tray. Sprinkle the cod fillets with a small amount of salt and pepper, and then lightly coat in cornflour. Set aside and begin making the batter.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the gram flour, 2 tsp cornflour, salt, chilli powder, turmeric, carom, oil and lime, adding the sparkling water a little at a time. Mix until smooth and well combined but do not over-mix.
3. Add enough oil to cover the base of a heavy-based pan over medium-high heat. To test if the oil is hot enough, add a drop of the batter into the oil. If it begins to bubble, it's ready. Dip the cod in the batter and fry for around 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and golden. Make sure you do not overcrowd the pan. Transfer to a plate and serve with the cassava and tartare sauce.
For an air-fried version, please see above.
For the tartare sauce
1. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
I hope you love this recipe!
Love,
Sasha
